Private speech and strategy-use patterns: bidirectional comparisons of children with and without mathematical difficulties in a developmental perspective

The present study examines private speech and strategy-use patterns for solving simple number fact problems in addition. The progressive differentiation by grade between children's levels of private speech internalization--including silence--was investigated and related to children's developmental patterns for subcategories of strategy-use internalization. Comparisons were made between 67 children with math difficulties (MD) and 67 children without MD from Grade 2 to Grade 7 in primary schools. Two separate laboratory investigations were performed for each child to examine private speech and strategy-use internalization. Analysis was based on private speech category differences, strategy-use differences, and differences in the occurrence of private speech-strategy-use combinations. Children without MD showed a grade-determined shift from less to more internalized private speech and from the use of backup strategies to retrieval strategies. In contrast, the private speech and the strategy-use internalization of children with MD, reflected in inaudible private speech and backup strategy use, seemed to converge at earlier developmental levels. The development of children with MD seemed almost to stop at the inaudible private speech-backup strategy combination level. The silence-retrieval strategy combination level was the primary alternative for typical math achievers. In all, the characteristics of the development curves of the children with MD were consistent with a developmental difference and not with a developmental delay model. Implications for intervention and future research methodology are discussed.     

Digital Discovery and Architectural Interface Design: Prototyping Architectural-Scale Interfaces for Discovery Across Digital and Tangible Collections

Abstract

How do researchers search for knowledge? What are their behaviors and habits, and what technologies do they use? This article proposes that three design shifts – involving more human senses, enabling comparative and simultaneous viewing, and allowing immediate access to full content – will create a more fruitful research process for scholars who conduct a literature review, learn about a new topic in a related discipline, or catch up on advances in their field. The three proposed designed shifts were tested with prototyping. The systematic prototyping procedure is a method that can be employed by others to advance this field.     

Let Me Show You How It's Done! Desktop Sharing for Distance Learning from the D. Samuel Gottesman Library

Due to the proliferation of electronic resources, fewer users visit the library. Traditional classroom instruction and in-person consultations are no longer sufficient in assisting library users. Librarians are constantly seeking new ways to interact with patrons and facilitate efficient use of electronic resources. This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a project in which desktop-sharing software was used to reach out to users at remote locations. Various ways of using this tool are described, and challenges and implications for future expansion are discussed.     

The Plagiarism Project

Plagiarism has been a problem plaguing academia for centuries. The Internet has made it easier than ever to copy material from one electronic document and paste it into another. Many cases are unintentional, as writers are unaware of the rules regarding plagiarism. This paper provides an overview of plagiarism and describes a project in which librarians partnered with the assistant dean of a graduate science program to educate students about the perils of plagiarism and encourage ethical writing practices.     

The interactive effects of touch and touch avoidance on interpersonal evaluations

The importance and complexity of tactile communication in a variety of interpersonal contexts is underscored in the nonverbal communication literature. However, whether touch produces positive or negative effects on interpersonal relationships may depend upon the coactants’ levels of touch avoidance. The present experimental study examined the interactive effects of touch and touch avoidance on interpersonal attraction and perceived homophily. The results of a MANOVA and follow‐up univariate tests demonstrated that interpersonal attraction and perceived homophily are dependent, in part, on the receiver's level of touch avoidance. Touch avoiders rated confederates who touched them lower in attraction and homophily than did touch approachers who were touched. A gender of confederate effect was also observed. These findings are consistent with the extant literature.     

Examining the criminal justice and criminological paradigms: An analysis of ACJS and ASC members

Many authors have noted the existence of dual paradigms operating in crimerelated education, including those who generally study crime as a social phenomenon (criminologists) and those concerned with agencies that have been designed to deal with crime (criminal justicians). In an effort to determine the exten of convergence and divergence between these groups, we examine the characteristics of members of their respective professional associations, the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Using bivariate statistics and discriminant function analysis, we find a number of expected divergences between these groups. In addition, however, we provide a detailed examination of recent convergences suggesting the evolution of a new paradigm, one which incorporates salient features of both criminology and criminal justice.     

Designing online learning communities of practice: A democratic perspective

This study addresses the problem of designing an appropriate learning space or architecture for distributed online courses using net-based communication technologies. We apply Wenger's criteria to explore, identify and discuss the design architectures of two online courses from two comparable online Master's programmes, developed and delivered in two different educational cultures, Ireland (MIC) and Denmark (OL). The investigation will take the shape of a discussion of the 'walls of the learning spaces' of the two courses, with reference to Wenger's criteria and values for an appropriate learning architecture. In an earlier evaluation study, both courses were deemed to be examples of online learning communities of practice, despite their geographical and cultural diversity in contexts of development. The findings of the present study confirm and document several significant design elements of the two courses, which are stressed in the design criteria suggested by Wenger as being vital for community building.